When it came to toasting craft beer, an 11-day week was just too long.

This year’s Chicago Craft Beer Week will therefore be a trimmer version of itself, shrinking to eight days that begin Thursday with the usual kickoff event, Beer Under Glass.

“It’s a ‘craft beer week,’ and we’re trying to get back to what was originally intended,” said Danielle D’Alessandro, executive director of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild.

D’Alessandro was sort of joking, but sort of not.

The advantage of the 11-day “week” was that bars and breweries had two weekends to stage events. The disadvantage: Eleven days made for more events than most people could handle, bars and breweries included.

“This is a way to not fatigue our brewers with 11 days of nonstop events,” D’Alessandro said.

Though a shortened Craft Beer Week means it won’t close with the customary festival in Welles Park, that event is not disappearing; it will instead be pushed back to Aug. 5., when brewers and beer drinkers are, in theory, ready for another major festival. Tickets, which will cost $50, go on sale next month.

To keep beer drinkers engaged all summer, the Brewers Guild will launch a passport program at Beer Under Glass. Collecting at least 20 stamps from more than 100 breweries across the state will get a passport holder an extra hour at the Welles Park festival, plus prizes. Passports will also be available Craft Beer Week sponsors, including Half Acre Beer Co., Lagunitas Brewing and Goose Island Beer Co. Passports can also be redeemed without buying a ticket to the Welles Park festival.

Until then, however, there is a craft beer week to navigate. With a more manageable eight days beginning Thursday, here are my day-by-day picks for a dream week of celebrating craft beer. More information for all events can be found at www.chibeerweek.com.

THURSDAY

Beer Under Glass: The signature event remains one of the city’s best beer-drinking evenings, if for no other reason than the scope (100-plus breweries) and the scenery (the lush greenery of Garfield Park Conservatory). Beer Under Glass once sold out almost as soon as tickets went on sale, but no longer; the rise of craft beer as a year-round force has slowed sales. That's good news, though, for procrastinators and last-minute planners. As of Wednesday afternoon, tickets remained available. $60. Garfield Park Conservatory, 6:30 p.m.; 5:30 for VIP

FRIDAY

Unicornucopia 5: The much-loved Pipeworks Brewing is hosting a limited-run "taproom," called Pipedream, at Emporium Arcade Bar, that lasts from Thursday until May 27. Throughout the 10 days, Pipeworks will have a rotating selection of 45 beers on the 12 taps. Among the signature events will be Unicornucopia, which includes snacks, a paella dinner, Dark Matter coffee to go, arcade tokens (naturally) and five tickets for Pipeworks beers, among which will be a new collaboration — a coffee kolsch — between Pipeworks and Dark Matter Coffee. $60 for Unicornucopia, though entry to Pipedream for the rest of the 10 days is free. 2367 N. Milwaukee Ave.

SATURDAY

Ultra Fresh II: Chicago beer website The Hop Review hosts close to 25 local breweries with a twist: All will be pouring from kegs that have been packaged within the previous five days. Tickets include a just-canned welcome beer from Revolution Brewing at the door plus a sample of “ultra-fresh” beer from each participating brewery. Styles on hand will range wildly, from session pale ale to lager to gose to a New England-style IPA — or six. (Yes, six New England-style IPAs will be on hand. What's a New-England style IPA? Keep reading.) $35. Right Way Signs, 2333 N. Seeley Ave., 4-8 p.m.

SUNDAY

Sour Beer Fest: Delilah’s is largely known as one of the city’s essential whiskey bars, but it is just as important on the beer front. The evidence is its annual tasting of lambic and sour beers. Beers will be poured from more than a dozen legendary Belgian breweries, including multiple vintages of Drie Fonteinen Gueuze and a variety of fruit lambics. $20 for 20 sample tickets. 2771 N. Lincoln Ave., noon to 5 p.m.

MONDAY

Saisonathon: If you love IPAs (raises hand) but still have IPA fatigue (raises hand), here is the event for you: 12 locally made and varying takes on one of beer’s most beautiful styles. Among the offerings will be a black saison (Maplewood Brewery), a dry-hopped saison (Mikerphone Brewing), a coffee saison (Noon Whistle Brewing), a saison featuring Brettanomyces yeast (Hopewell Brewing) and a saision aged in cabernet barrels with blueberries and plums (Whiner Beer Co). Maybe the most fascinating event of the week. Pub Royale, 2049 W. Division St., 5 p.m.

New Era IPA Tap Takeover: End Chicago Craft Beer Week with a head-first dive into the hottest thing in craft beer — for the moment, anyway — hazy, sweet IPAs with very low bitterness. Typically called New England-style IPAs, Forbidden Root is going with the term “new era IPAs” for this event, which will feature a dozen local takes on the style. Among those pouring: Sketchbook Brewing, Mikerphone Brewing, Lake Effect Brewing, Mars Community Brewing and a return of Stay Lit, a collaboration between Forbidden Root and Three Floyds Brewing. Forbidden Root, 1746 W. Chicago Ave., 6 p.m.